Shri Aksharpurushottam Swaminarayan Mandir

Updated: May 21, 2016 17:48 PM

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First temple of Swaminarayan devotee inaugurated in Delhi capital region with the grace of Yogi Bapa (Yogiji Maharaj) and with the efforts of Kakaji named as श्री अक्षरपुरुषोत्तम स्वामीनारायण मंदिर (Shri Aksharpurushottam Swaminarayan Mandir).

Shastriji Maharaj had given a murti of Akshar Purushottam Maharaj to Ex-Prime Minister Gulzarilal Nanda. Now this murti is preserved in the Akshar Purushottam Mandir, Ashok Vihar near Shastri Nagar metro station. More About Temple

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Swaminarayan Bhagwan was born in Chhapaiya, near Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, which is 340 miles or about 550 kilometers from India's capital, New Delhi. Swaminarayan satsanga however primarily grew from Gujarat, where Swaminarayan Bhagwan resided since He entered the state as Neelkanth Varni. (Sampradaaya records indicate that in 1809, a resident of Delhi named Tuiram met Swaminarayan Bhagwan in Surat. He is the first resident of Delhi to become a devotee.) Shastriji Maharaj wished for satsanga to spread to the north, where Swaminarayan Bhagwan had taken birth, as well. (Through Sardar Patel, whose family were devotees of Swaminarayan Bhagwan, Mahatma Gandhiji and Jawarhalal Nehru had come in contact with Shastriji Maharaj and Yogi Bapa.)

Shastriji Maharaj had given a moorti of Akshar-Purushottam Maharaj to Gulzarilal Nanda (Ex-Prime Minister of India) to take to Delhi. (That moorti is now preserved in the Akshar Purushottam Mandir at Ashok Vihar, Delhi.) In May 1950, Nandaji met Shastriji Maharaj in Ahmedabad and asked him to grace Delhi. Shastriji Maharaj asked Yogi Bapa to go instead along with Thakorji (moorti of Harikrishna Maharaj) in July 1950. Per Yogi Bapa's instructions, Kakaji visited Delhi several times starting 1952 to support the satsanga there. Yogi Bapa, Pramukh Swamiji, saints and devotees visited Delhi (staying at Nandaji's bungalow) by special train on route to Chhapaiya in 1953. Kakaji and Nandaji had gone earlier to help make arrangements, and met Yogi Bapa in Chhapaiya, where young Acharya Tejendraprasadji Maharaj had also convened. Again in 1956, Yogi Bapa, saints and devotees visited Delhi by special train on route to Chhapaiya.

In many letters to devotees from 1967, Yogi Bapa expressed a desire for a temple in Delhi. Since that time, Kakaji continued to grace devotees in Delhi, while asking Mukundjivan Swamiji (Guruji) to lead the Delhi satsanga. In 1983, Kakaji acquired land from the Delhi Development Authority with the help of Minister HKL Bhagat, who witnessed Kakaji's divinity. In 1994, with the support of Malkani Uncle and devotees, the first Akshar-Purushottam temple was established in the capital city of Delhi at Ashok Vihar. Aksharjyoti is the Delhi women's wing, headed by Anandididi. Under Guruji's guidance, the Delhi center today continues to flourish and help many follow the principles of Swaminarayan Bhagwan. (Source: www.kakaji.org/delhi.html)